Tancredo to feds: Pound sand

Hundreds of cowboy-boot-clad supporters, bikers and autograph-seeking preteens gathered Sunday at the Grizzly Rose Western dance hall for a Tom Tancredo fundraiser that was more traveling show than political event.

A litany of conservative personalities made cameos throughout the two-hour show benefiting Tancredo, who recently joined the American Constitution Party to run for governor against Republican Dan Maes and Democrat John Hickenlooper.

A small band of activists briefly set up in the dance hall parking lot protesting the appearance of Arpaio, a controversial figure for his aggressive enforcement of immigration laws.

Tancredo in his patched leather riding vest, ball cap and “Dog the Bounty Hunter” T-shirt addressed an audience of more than 1,500, who cheered enthusiastically at copious tough talk regarding illegal immigrants – the theme of the rally.

“It’s up to us to tell the federal government, ‘You can go pound sand. We’ll take care of ourselves,’” Tancredo said, praising Arizona’s decision to put immigration enforcement into the hands of local authorities.

In the aisles and in the parking lot, vendors hawked six varieties of Tancredo-brand wine, vinted by the candidate himself.

Chapman, a crowd favorite, said he endorsed a candidate for the first time because Tancredo “is really a great man.” As a congressman, Tancredo and other lawmakers helped keep Chapman from being extradited to Mexico in 2003 to face charges he’d illegally arrested a convicted rapist.

“(Tancredo’s) somewhat like me, or I’m somewhat like him. I’m a controversial guy. I have everybody trying to shoot the sheriff,” said Arpaio, who is under federal investigation for allegations of racial profiling. “You want a guy who’s going to tell it like it is and get the job done.”

Arpaio may have been speaking metaphorically about shooting, but event organizers bumped up security and hired for the job former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis, notable for his role in accessing a secure database during the 2006 gubernatorial election.

Pete Hosburgh of Lakewood said his only complaint was the show was too short.

“My favorite was Sheriff Joe from Arizona. That guy’s cool,” Hosburgh said. “His endorsement of Tom is huge. He carries a lot of weight nationally with people fed up with the state and city not doing anything about illegal immigration.”

Surprised Freda was there, perhaps she hasn’theard that TT is backing away from some of her amendments. Traveling show….is that what Colorado will look like if TT gets elected? TT doesn’t get what he is doing to our state. Sad for Colorado.

Davidjohnson813

Tom Tancredo’s disrespectful message to the feds resonates deeply with many Colorado voters who agree with him in telling Washington to ‘pound sand’. Who are ‘the Feds’? Here in Colorado it is our two current senators and the democratic representatives who have failed to represent their constituents on a whole host of issues that go way beyond their failure to address/enforce immigration laws. Our Congress passes many laws which just sit on the books and the feds deliberately choose not to enforce. This governmental behavior encourages gross disrespect. What if citizens followed suit and obeyed only the laws they chose to obey? All three branches of our federal government are seriously broken and Tom Tancredo is crassly pointing this out to Colorado voters.

dg

And the Post wonders why their circulation numbers continue to fall. What a biased, snarky piece of journalism. And inaccurate too, I might add. Wallace was charged with 12 felonies, I believe. I have to hand it to you Jessica, you covered all the bases with your lame ,one-sided shots. Why did you gloss over the “small band of activists?” Why didn’t you tell us about their flags and gestures? People can see pictures on KHOW under Pete’s show.

Love him or hate him, voters need to look at the big picture this year. Sure Tancredo has some strong views on illegal immigration, but that’s not his entire platform. He can’t make laws on his own. We still have a legislature where illegal immigration policies will be debated. The voters still have a say on these things too. Tancredo is a conservative and believes in smaller government. We need him to get Colorado back on track after Ritter’s disasterous administration.

Jfender

Re: Wallace – “Robert Joseph Wallace, 81, of Wheat Ridge, faced numerous charges stemming from the Feb. 24 incident. He pleaded guilty to two felonies — one count of attempted reckless manslaughter and one count of illegal discharge of a firearm into an occupied motor vehicle.”

Re: Wallace – “Robert Joseph Wallace, 81, of Wheat Ridge, faced numerous charges stemming from the Feb. 24 incident. He pleaded guilty to two felonies — one count of attempted reckless manslaughter and one count of illegal discharge of a firearm into an occupied motor vehicle.”

Hmm…he is truly starting to run on the Constition party platform.
Just when you thought Tancredo couldn’t get any more Radical???? HE DOES

Anonymous

Whoa – Joe Arpaio and Dog the Bounty Hunter. As a Colorado resident and taxpayer I can sleep better knowing those two louses are supporting Tancredo – what’s the saying, ‘birds of a feather” or “you sleep with dogs and get up with fleas.” Throw in Peter Boyles support and eventually he and Tommy Tancredo can come up with some conspiracy to capture the November election.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.